Automobile body-work



J. E.' F. cAMBEssDEs 2,111,585

AUTOMOBILE BODY WORK Filed Dec. e, 1955 she'es-shee'V 1 A 22, ww.

J. E. F. CAMBESSEDS AUTOMOB ILE BODY WORK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 6,1935 wf l@am bessyede 5 Patented Mar. 22, 1938 UNITEDl STAT-EsPari-:NETl olieiclii` AU'roMonE Boor-worin Jean mienne Feux cambssas,Paris, France Application December s, 1935, serial No. 53,259A In ItalyAugust 1o, 193s 'Ihis invention relates to torpedo shaped or runaboutvehicle bodies which may be, as the driver desires, convertible intosedan or other patterns of closed vehicle bodies, even while the car isrunning at high speeds.

In accordance with the invention, certain' well known partsofconventional` vehicles such as reardeck or rumble seat covers withtheir'sidewalls, sliding roofs, side-window frames, are speciallyimproved and a variable number, of these parts vare employed to closethe body.

One of the features of this invention is' to use constantly two of thesemembers specially improved to perform in unison during the actuation.'I'he rst of these members is the lid or cover of the rear deck which isalways pivoted in any suitable manner around the' bottom of the rear ofthe car.

Another feature of the invention consists in providing a. metallicroof., having the same shape as the cover, and fitted at the bottom edgeof its side-wallswith long slides, which are adapted to t into and`slide in corresponding grooves provided in the coverside-walls. Whenthese parts are in inoperative or closed position, that is, with theroof member slid back'over the lid or cover member, and both of theseelements are resting on the rear portion of the car body to vgive thelatter astreamline eiect, suitable means connected to one or both ofsaid elements may be actuated for slowly swinging these parts on theaxlesupporting the same, and at the same time moving the roof memberforwardly, whereby theA latter may slide forward away from the lid untilits front abuts against the windshield of the car. l In this position,the roof and -lid will form a complete covering for the vehicle body.

In-this manner, a metallic coach-work may be -these two pieces allows inpractice, the operation,

if desired, oi one only of these parts.

In another form ofl realization still having roof and cover dependingone from the other, the closure forthe car may consist of separate si'demembers in the sides and doors of the car, even up to the windshield.This enables the adapta- 4 claims. (c1. zas-107) tion of my invention tocars orJ other vehicles with multiple doors. 'Ihe upper edges of theseside-walls or side members,which, of course, rise together with thecover are fitted with grooves intended to receive the side edges of asliding Y roof made'of one sheet of canvas or rolled sheetiron, or madeof several pieces of sheet-iron characterized by the fact that theyslide one on the other by means of special guide members and grooves andalso in other guide grooves on the edges of the car; they must always bedrawn on, either forward or backward.v

Another characteristic of this invention re- A sides in providing in cars of this type, motorlifts which transmit to 'the ensemble:inter-depending cover and roof, the rising motion is at rst nearlyvertical, and then the lifts transmit motion in a substantiallyhorizontal directio to the roof alone.

Two modes of bringing theclosure members into action are generally used:in the models of the iirst series the initial motion is given to theroof alone, the cover pivoted'at the vback necessarily following on. Inthe second series the f cover only receives the initial motion movementafter which said movement is stopped and then y by suitable mechanismthe movement vis transferred to the roof lalone.

Other parts will be described when presenting the various forms ofrealization, as for example door axles serving as lifts, side piecesforced upwardly in the rising movement of the roof and lid to provideside-walls, etc.

The combination of these elements between them and according to variousactuating means that might be employed will bring out various forms ofcar-bodies known in trade under many various names depending on whetherthey have two, four or multiple windows, two, four or multiple doors, orwhether they will be open or closed-or can be opened.

Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a two door type body equipped with myimproved cover and roof members.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the cover or lid memberof my invention.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a portion of my improved roof member.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a two door body like Fig. 1, in whichthe movable cover and roof are brought into motion by levers actuated bya' i motor and suitable gearing.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 butshowing a further modication ofmy invention.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but on a reduced scale and showinga'further modication of the invention.

On Fig. 1 is shown a cover I having side walls pivoted at their lowerrear edges on an axle 2 at the rear of the c ar, and lateral grooves 3are provided in the fixed body of the car for a purpose hereinafterdescribed. A roof 4 can slide on cover I. A hydraulic lift 5, the bottomof which is pivotally mounted as shown at 6 tothe body of the car, isprovided with a piston II, the head 1 of which is connected to the roofmember 4. The lift 5 receives liquid from a pump 8 through a pipe 9,said pump being actuated by a motor or by hand. When the roof 4 and thecover I have slid one into the other, as shown in dotted lines in Fig.l, the car body having then the form of a complete torpedo, the operatormay force oil or other suitable fluid under pressure from the pump 8 tothe lift 5 for the purpose of raising the parts I and 4 over the carbody. At

this time, first I and 4 will emerge together and then, I beingprevented from rising beyond a predetermined position, by stoppers notshown on the drawings, the roof 4 will continue to rise alone. Suchmovement of the roof may be facilitated by providing small wheels Il)journalled in the lower edges of the side walls of the roof and runningin grooves in the side walls on the car body. The hydraulic lifts have,of course, suitable apertures in the piston II for discharging theliquid therefrom, and these apertures may be connected to a suitableconduit, not shown, for bringing the liquid back to the tank pump.

As above noted, the car body is provided with grooves or channels in itsside walls to accommodate the side walls of the roof and the lid whensaid roof and lid are slid into one another as shown in dotted lines inFigure 1. These channels, as will be obvious from the foregoing, are ofa depth sufcient to accommodate the side walls of the roof and lid, sothat when these parts are folded, as above indicated, the lower edges oftheir side Walls will rest on the bottom of said channels, therebysupporting said members in closed position. When the roof and the lidare opened, as shown in full lines in Figure 1, the hydraulic lift willmaintain the parts in this position, and, of course, the forward end ofthe roof may rest on the top of the windshield frame.

In Figures 2 and 3, I have shown details of construction of the cover Iand roof 4, both of which have slides I4, I5, respectively, at the loweredges of their side walls adapted to engage corresponding guide groovesin the side walls of the car body. However, in the embodiment of theinvention illustrated in Figure 1, the slides I4 on the cover may beeliminated, as the cover or lid I simply moves in a vertical direction,and does not move forward with the roof member 4. It will therefore beunderstood that the construction of the cover and roof members with bothslides I4 and I5 thereon, applies particularly to the embodiments of theinvention illustrated in the following gures rather than the embodimentshown in Figure 1. In the latter ligure, however, as in the othermodifications of the invention, the cover is provided withlongitudinally extending guide beads I6 adapted to slide withincorresponding grooves or channels I'I in the roof member, for guidingthe roof relatively to the cover when these parts are moved toward openor closed position. Of course, if desired, the beads the side walls ofthe body of the car.

may be placed on the roof for sliding movement within grooves in thelid.

In Figure 4, the cover 56 is supporting a roof with a substantially flattop 66. the side walls of which are provided with semi-circular guidebeads l1, and as soon as the roof has been raised, a predetermineddistance, said semi-circular beads l1 slidably engage the semi-circulargrooves 58 in Non-circular grooves 58 have been provided on the coverand these grooves are adapted to receive noncircular beads 59a on theroof, said last mentioned grooves and beads serving as auxiliary guidesfor the cover and roof. In this embodiment of the invention, the roofmember 56 is raised or lowered in the following manner. A suitablemotor, not shown, drives a gear mechanism 23. 'I'he direction ofrotation of this gear mechanism is controlled by a lever 24. The geardrives the shaft 60 which is provided at one end thereof .with a wormgear 60', said worm gear meshing with the gear wheel 6I. A connectingrod 62 xed to the shaft of said last mentioned gear wheel is pivotallyconnected to a bell-crank lever 63, 64. The movement of the bell cranklever 63, 64 is transmitted to semi-axles 65 on which are keyed the twolarge crank shafts 66 pivotally connected to the side walls of the roofwhich is by that means actuated downwards or upwards. Suitable means,`not shown, may be provided for limiting the movement of the roof memberafter the latter has reached a predetermined raised or lowered position.

In Figure 5 the roof and the cover are interdependent. 'Ihe rollers 'I6of the roof run in the grooves in the side walls of the cover. 'I'heroof is raised from its rear end by two large levers 'I5' which aregiven a continuous upward or downward motion in the manner described inconnection with the operation of levers 66 in Fig. 4. Two side platesTI, which rotate about their axes IB are carried forward by the forwardpart of the roof against pressure, of the springs 'I9 exerting aconstant downward pressure at the top of said plates 11. 'Ihese platesform the closing part of the sides of the roof of the vehicle.

Figure 6 shows a modification of the device shown in Figure 5. The roof4b is held solidly in place by two pairs of levers 80, 8l, one set oneach side of the car body. Each lever 80 is keyed at its lower end tosemi-axles in the same manner as the lever 66 in Fig. 4, while the upperends are pivotally connected to the front endl of the side walls of theroof. These levers act to raise or lower the roof member. The second setof levers, 8l, are pivoted at their lower ends to the side walls of thecar body, while their upper ends are secured to the rear portions of theside walls of the roof. Thus, when the roof is lowered from the positionshown in full lines to the dotted line position shown in this figure,under the cover Ib, the rear wall of the roof will abut against theupper edge 82 of the cover, causing the latter to rock on its shaft 2b.The swinging movement imparted to the levers 86 will, of course, betransmitted to the levers 8l through the roof member to which theselevers are connected. The whole device may be operated at constant speedby hand or by any adequate mechanism. Suitable means, not shown, may beprovided to stop the roof when fully open or shut; the lower edges ofthe roof being always enclosed in the sides of thel car body, cannotinjure the passengers.

Having now described my invention-what I desire to secure by LettersPatent ofthe United States is:

1. An automobile body comprising a cover member pivotally connected atits rear lower end to the rear portion of said body, ay roof memberslidably connected to said cover member, and means forming a permanentpart of the automobile body for swinging said cover member about itspivot and for sliding said roof member relatively to the cover member,said last mentioned means being connected to one of said members.

2. An automobile body comprising a cover member pivotally connected atits rear lower end to the rear portion of said body, a roof memberslidably connected to said cover member, means connected to one of saidmembers and said automobile body for swinging said cover member aboutits pivot and for sliding said roof member relatively to the covermember, and means for guiding the roof member while-the latter issliding relatively to the cover member.

for swinging said cover` memberabout its pivot and for sliding said roofmember relatively to the cover member, means for guiding the roof memberWhile the latter is sliding relatively to the cover member, and meansarranged adjacent the drivers seat of said automobile body f orcontrolling the operation of said cover and roof members.

4. An automobile body comprising a main bodyl said axis, and means forswinging said cover member upwardly about its pivot and for sliding saidroof member forwardly relatively to the cover member, said lastmentioned means including elements operatively connecting the main bodymember to one of the other members.

` JEAN ETIENNE FLIX cAi/rBssDEs. 25

